


When A Repressed Man Walks Into A Bar...

by KrustyKruton



Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Chance Meetings, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 16:56:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13415604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrustyKruton/pseuds/KrustyKruton
Summary: Alec needed some place where he could just be him. He needed a place where his siblings wouldn't badger him to do things he really didn't want to do. He needed a place where he didn't have to lie about what he is. Alex needed to feel freedom for once and if that freedom came with a sparkly man downing liquor like it was water then he is sure everything will turn out fine.





	When A Repressed Man Walks Into A Bar...

It's become a habit. After a particularly bad mission or a day with a more irritable than usual Jace, it had become a habit to sneak out in search of some form of release, some way to...not be him. 

Alec is a logical person. He knows, logically, that he can't stop being himself. Though how he figured out that particular fact was through a sad amount of trials with an equal amount of errors. Alec knows that if he wants release, a small taste of freedom where he isn't 'brother', 'parabatai', 'commander', or 'shadowhunter' and is simply Alec, he needs to leave the shadow world. 

The thought, at first, disgusted him. Mingling with mundanes. Even the idea caused his mouth to twist into a sneer rarely shown. Alec tried his hardest to push the feeling down.

He needed this.

In the beginning he coasted through the streets, peeking in windows at shops long closed and clubs still going hard. He didn't know where to go. His first thought was a library only it was immediately shot down by the very new force that was his sense of adventure, of independence. The library was a place 'brother' would choose, he couldn't go there.

It took three long and disappointing nights to realize that though he knew exactly what every other facet of his persona adored and detested, what their habits were and how they ticked, he had no clue how he, 'Alec', functioned. He had never been alone long enough to discover who he was away from the strong presences of both his sister and parabatai. It took another night of confusion to decide on a course of action.

Alec came to the conclusion that he needed to start small. A place where no one cared if you were anyone. He found solace in shady mundane bars where everyone was too sketchy to talk. Each determined to keep up the mysterious air around them. Alec, black turtleneck covering all runes and loose fitting cargo pants hiding any weapons he chose to take, felt at home in the comfortable silence. No pressure to converse with those around him, no authority figures insisting he play nice, only the soft demand for a drink and the simple action of swirling the liquid round and round in the shining tumbler. 

He settled on a small bar lost in a maze of winding streets filled with crumbling walls and abandoned homes. The place was old, the wood floors creaking at every step and the walls covered in a fine layer of grime. The lights flickered regularly enough to warrant the candles placed around the bar and on each table. There had been more than one night that Alec sipped his poison by candlelight. The chairs were worn a and tearing and the bathrooms were close to a nightmare but the place was safe.

For him at least.

He had wondered about the possibility of a downworlder stumbling upon him, revealing his position, but he was comforted enough by his covered runes and the knowledge that no shadowhunter other than his siblings would believe a downworlder spouting something about him hiding out in a mundane bar. He arrived quietly, drank silently, and left as if he had never been. Rinse and repeat.

He was comfortable. His barstool remained empty for him. His order became a regular. Tim became as close to a friend as a mundie could be to a shadowhunter. Silent figures sprinkled around the room became the norm. So it was a shock when a drunk with the flashiest clothes, sparkling jewelry, and the most eye catching hair colour clambered onto the stool to his right.

"Do you have anything fruity?" The man slurred. Tim gave him a look, glancing behind him where the menu hung, proudly proclaiming exactly what was available. He turned back to the man and shook his head. The man sighed, arms flopping onto the bar and head falling hard on the wood. Alec winced at the sound. 

"How can that be possible? Every bar has a fruity drink!" 

Tom blinked.

"Not this one."

The man sighed again, louder this time and pouted, fingers coming up to brush through his tall hair absently. "Fine. Let me help you, darling." He leaned forward, neck bending till he could see the selection of alcohol and proceeded to list off a mix that sounded entirely too complicated, proven by the almost frightened look on Tim's face. The man slapped a bill on the bar and sat back down, watching Tim double take at the amount payed and suddenly scramble for the right ingredients. The flustered appearance of the usually unflappable man forced out a chuckle. That was all it took.

"And who might you be, handsome?"

Alec nearly choked on his drink. He sputtered, nose still in the glass and turned to face the sparkling man. "Excuse me?" The man accepted his peach coloured drink, stirred it, took a sip and waited. Alec set his glass down, fingers sliding over the smooth surface then settling on the waxed wood of the bar. He coughed and dropped his eyes to the edges of his sleeves. "Alexander."

A cup held by purple painted nails slid over and clinked against Alec's, "Magnus."

Magnus eyed his drink and swiftly threw it back, head tossed and neck stretching with every swallow. Alec drank. 

"What's a pretty boy like you doing in such a place?"

Alec kept his eyes trained on his twitching fingers, "I could ask you the same thing." Magnus laughed. The sound was warm and welcoming, deep and soothing. Alec had to look. Magnus' eyes were crinkled at the corners, his glitter falling from his lashes like stardust and settled on his cheeks rounded by the large smile spread across his face. He reached out, fingers brushing Alec's sleeve gently. "Oh my dear, I may be pretty but I am no boy." Alec snorted. Magnus continued to smile.

They settled into a peaceful silence, each ordering another drink and quietly nursing it without much thought towards the other. The other patrons shuffled and shifted, new replacing the old and hands raised to signal the beginning of another round. "What's brought you out here to such a desolate place, Alexander?" Magnus downed his third drink. Alec sighed. 

"A fight." Magnus raised his eyes and Alec shook his head, "Not like that" he assured. Magnus gestured with a flourish, simultaneously calling for another drink and asking him to go on. Alec waved down to Tim and watched as fresh drink dripped into his glass. "An argument between siblings."

Magnus hummed, "From your brooding and lack of pouting am I correct in the guess that you are the oldest?" Alec paused then nodded. He raised his drink, pressing the rim to his lips but didn't drink. He set it back down. 

"What about you?"

Magnus eyed him and swirled the liquid in is cup.

"Anniversary. "

"Good or bad?"

"Oh, very bad." 

His voice turned heavy. Alec glanced at him from the corner of his eye and saw his hair deflate a bit almost as if portraying his emotionally state. 

"But it's only bad if I remember."

Alec looked away.

"It's hard not to remember the bad."

Alec would know. Most of his life was comprised of mostly bad situations he finds himself stuck in without meaning. Magnus tapped his nail against the wood. It took six taps for him to start again. "I decided that I'd try to get through every bar in Brooklyn."

Alec raised a brow and his glass. "Bad idea." He dank. Magnus shrugged. "Well," he rubbed his temple and chuckled, "it seemed like a good idea at the time." 

Alec smiled. "They always do."

"So why did you choose this place?" Magnus waved a hand at the peeling walls and grungy floor. "Why not some place a bit classier or energetic? Pandemonium has a great energy and, with your good looks, you'll certainly be turning a few heads."

Alec froze at the mention of the club frequented by demons. Breath, he thought, mundanes go there too. 

"I don't like a lot of noise."

Magnus accepted the excuse.


End file.
